TGIF!

I know, I know. Could that photo be anymore 2009? I just get ridiculously sappy this time of year about going out to breakfast in the morning and trudging through the leaves in my bean boots. These are the moments I will savor when it is 38° and raining (but not snowing) in the middle of January. Tennessee really knows how to do Fall–winter not so much. Anyway, that’s what’s happening in our neck of the woods, here’s what I’m digging on the rest of the interwebs…

When I first started following @thedogist on Instagram, I got ridiculously excited and told all my friends. Having a bad day at work? Check out @thedogist. The line for coffee is ridiculously long? Check out @thedogist. I couldn’t get enough of his pup portraits. Well, Elias Weiss Friedman was recently profiled on CBS Sunday Morning, and it turns out he’s published a book.

[image source: The Dogist]

Click here to order The Dogist on Amazon! (I’ve already bought a couple extra copies for Christmas gifts.)

In that same vein, photographer Caroline Fontenot and writer Jess Graves have collaborated on a site: Southerners & Their Dogs. It’s been around for a bit, but I just ran across it because of this fab image. Definitely worth a bookmark!

Hope you don’t have plans for the next few hours because if interior design is your thing, allow me to point you to Pandora’s box: Lonny’s seriously in-depth map of Hollywood’s designers and their squads.

Lena Dunham released the first full episode of her new podcast, Women of the Hour, this week, and it totally exceeded my expectations. The first episode was on friendship. Between readings of the first letters between Lena and her pen pal, writer Ashley Ford (who has a super sultry voice), were conversations between BFFs young, old, and famous.

Other highlights from the podcast was an advice segment with Emma Stone and June Squibb and a profile on Edna St. Vincent Millay. (P.S. Millay has become a favorite of mine, and I got to see the very narrow house Lena mentions when I was in NYC earlier this year with the Madcap Heiress. So cool!) Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Finally, this performance knocked my socks off. Check it out!

Podcasts Pt. 2

{Click here for image source.}

I’ve had a couple people ask for podcast recommendations recently so I thought it was time for Podcasts Pt. 2. If you’re interested in the first list, click here. I’m going to give you some specific episodes of my favorite podcasts so if you’re looking for a place to start, this is it!

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

This is kind of like the audio-version of a profile in GQ or Esquire with a really great opinion piece called The Outshot (i.e. a recommendation of something awesome that you should check out) to end each episode. The entertainers he profiles are fantastic–Mavis Staples, Tig Notaro, Neil deGrasse Tyson–but the two below are some recent episodes I dug.

Start Here:
Keegan-Michael Key and Tituss Burgess
Jermaine Clement & Jonathan Ames

Bonus fact: This is the first place I heard about Wet Hot American Summer… click here to listen.

Art for Your Ear

I mentioned Danielle Krysa’s podcast when it first came out so I won’t go through the premise again. (Click here to for that.) But I do want to share some of my favorite episodes.

Start Here:
Robert Novogratz
Rachel Ryle
Mary Kate McDevitt

Re/Code Decode with Kara Swisher

This one is fairly new on my radar, but it is right in line with my day job–working for corporation in the digital world. Kara Swisher’s journalist background makes her really well-versed as she interviews the biggest players in the media game. And a feature you may love if this is not your world at all: Too Embarrassed to Ask. A small segment in each episode where she answers things like “What is Apple TV?”

Start Here:
White House Senior Advisor: Valerie Jarrett
Lenny Newsletter Co-founders: Jenni Konner & Lena Dunham

Kicking and Screaming

And while we’re on the Jenna Elfman love train… If you’re married and/or have children, you should check out Kicking and Screaming. It’s a video podcast Jenna and, her husband, Bodhi Elfman do. There is dancing, marriage talk, and, every once in a while, a mention of where they hide to have sex so they aren’t interrupted by the kiddos.

Start Here:
Episode 1 (audio-only) sets up their relationship and the premise of the show.

What are your fav podcasts? Comment below, tweet me, or post on our Facebook page!

Hers & His

His:

Listening

I heard a podcast a couple of weeks ago that really stood out and motivated me, and I plan on going back and listening one more time: Alton Brown talks with Robert Sparks about art and art collecting. Hannah and I have always been interested in surrounding ourselves with beautiful things, but also that it is a duty for people to support artists by buying their work. Too often people thing “I can make that”, or something similar, but if you like the art don’t steal the idea–buy it and support the creator.

Watching

The grass grow (or not).

Reading

Hannah recently bought me a beautiful edition of “The Catcher in the Rye”. This is one I missed in school (not that I likely would have read it had it been assigned. I’ve made a commitment to myself to go back and read or reread some standards of literature now that I’m a little less, well, a little less of a Holden.

Hers:

Listening

I really love cool podcasts and have recently become addicted to one in particular: The Dinner Party Download. Each week hosts Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam share news, stories, and even cocktail recipes and etiquette lessons to help you dazzle friends and strangers alike at the next dinner party you attend. The pace is quick and the guests are always fantastic. (Particular favorites recently include: BJ Novak reading a piece from his new book and Wes Anderson talking about his new film.)

Listening

Ok, I know not everyone is as into podcasts as I am, but there’s one more that I loved hearing recently. It was all about I Love Lucy and was a part of Studio 360’s American Icons series. Basically, it gave a lot of the history behind how the show was made but, more than that, how it has influenced everything that came after– female lead, characters seeking fame, an interracial couple, Cuba. And then this, which I watch every time I start to get really cynical about this great country of ours (which Husband can tell you is often)…

(Watching)

Other Places Hannah’s Been Lately:

HGTV’s Design Happens

Today on HGTV, we’re celebrating the launch of Spring House. There is a ton of gorgeous inspiration designed by Brian Patrick Flynn and put together by Kayla Kitts. To get in on the fun several bloggers, including myself, styled bar carts. You can see my casual faux bar cart here.

Made + Remade

March was “Wear It” month on Made + Remade, and I had the privilege of interviewing designer, knitter, & author Emma Robertson for our Creative Genius series. See the Q&A here.

How YA Fiction Works

Attention fellow bibliophiles, my friend Casey recently launched a blog: How YA Fiction Works. I was lucky enough to help her pull together the look for her new site where she analyzes what works (and so often doesn’t) about Young Adult fiction. Be sure to click over and check it out.

(You may also want to follow Casey on twitter: @CaseyMarieNYC. Her thoughts in 140 characters or less are among my favorites.)